Area code 662 covers six counties in the Northern half of Mississippi which encompasses the town of Clarksdale, where Blues virtuoso Christone
“Kingfish” Ingram was born and raised. The town is home to the old-school juke joint, Red’s—where the artist played his first gig at only 11 years old.
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The three-digit phone code was established in 1999, the same year the celebrated artist was born, and covers the majority of what is broadly considered the Mississippi Delta. To most, it’s considered the Mecca of a longstanding musical tradition, but for Ingram, it’s home.
After touring his 2019 debut Kingfish at backed clubs and theatres across the country, opening for Vampire Weekend, Jason Isbell, and Buddy Guy, the 22-year-old returned to his hometown. Here, he reflected on the pivotal experiences of the past two years. As his career took off, Kingfish lost his biggest supporter, his mother, the late Princess Pride Ingram.
Penned throughout the pandemic—May through September of 2020—662 is a personal project for a breakthrough. With road-worn years under his belt, a wiser young man returns for his sophomore project with keen confidence in his ability to craft something authentic. Ingram re-enlisted his debut producer Tom Hambridge, along with co-writer Richard Fleming to shape Ingram’s own story of the Blues.
“The first thing people think about when they think of Clarksdale is the Blues, they think about the music,” Ingram tells American Songwriter over the phone. “I wanted to showcase that the Blues run a little bit deeper than that.”
Throughout the title track, which opens the 13-song collection, Ingram intentionally inserts elements of Black culture and Blues culture. The song is set deep in the Mississippi Delta—”The Birthplace of the Blues.” Lyrically, he paints a palpable portrait of the place that raised him: Lots of people get up early / Lots of people getting high / They got a church on every corner / If you’re searching for the bye and bye.
He adds, “That’s all true. At 5:30 in the morning, you hear cars, people leaving home to go to their jobs. And there are really churches on every corner. Seeing people sitting out on their porch and when you drive by they wave at you—it’s the Mississippi culture.”
There are more intimate tidbits of his life throughout the album. Songs like “That’s All It Takes,” and “You’re Already Gone” touch on his love life. The first album exhibits similar content, but as an emerging teenager, he admits there was only one romantic experience he was pulling from. Here, with more lived experience, Ingram dives deeper into the universal sentiment.
As the youngest signee to the legendary Alligator Records, Ingram feels a responsibility to purvey a resounding tradition to proceeding generations. It’s important for Ingram to note that the Blues began as protest music. “It’s not just ‘Oh, my baby left me,'” he says. “With everything going on in the world today, I want to bring the tradition of the Blues as protest music.”
Ingram respectfully nods to his varied influences including Robert Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, BB King, and Muddy Waters. But he also notes the impact of rock-leaning artists like Jimi Hendrix and Prince that shaped his dynamic sound. Pulling from different parts of his past, Ingram transcends a tradition worth preserving to those who he believed need it the most.
“I see nothing wrong with adding new flavors of modern style music to the Blues. Especially hip-hop, because that’s one of the ways I feel like I can really reach my young peers. And once I get them in that way, I can sit them down and tell them about how the genre really originated.”
Listen to Kingfish’s new LP 662, here.
Check out tour dates and ticket information, here.
